Rog's 'Conehead Dragon Buzzard'

[rogertvr]

Thanks again for your reply, Mica.
 
Controls - I'll have a think about it and I'll post a reply here, probably tomorrow.  Your suggestion (Roger Layout) I hadn't previously considered and it's got me thinking about my own proposed layout.
 
Tailpiece - I like symmetry.  That's fine coming from me with the design of this bass isn't it?  However, I think that as the bridge, the pick-ups, the stripes thru the neck and the knobs are all (or will be) uniform shapes, that the tailpiece should be uniform too.  Which brings me to my next question...
 
Is it possible to have a slightly scaled up version of the bird tailpiece? Or....a symmetrical version of the proposed tailpiece?
 
Thanks!
 
Rog

[mica]

The bottom contour of the bass isn't bi-laterally symmetrical, so the Dragon tailpiece (the proposed shape) will not look nice if it is completely symmetrical.  
 
A larger handmade bird tailpiece is certainly possible. Will be two hours of shop time for Mike to make for you.

[rogertvr]

I'll have to put some thought into this tailpiece.  Does anyone else have any comments?  I'd welcome some additional input into this if anyone has got anything to say.
 
Thanks!
 
Rog

[rogertvr]

Mica - another control layout question for you. Would it be possible to amend Roger's Layout to form Roger's Layout III?  What I had in mind is swapping the pan and neck filter with each other, and then swapping the volume and bridge filter with each other. Q switches stay as is.
 
Can you let me know if this is possible please?
 
Thanks!
 
Rog

[adriaan]

I think the bird tailpiece looks much too civilized on this monster. There probably isn't enough space for the Spyder tailpieces, right? Perhaps the bar, or a variation on the half-moon? It needs to look sharp, like the asymmetrical one but then more pointy.
 
(Message edited by adriaan on October 29, 2003)

[senmen]

Rog,
may I put in another suggestion?
Adriaan spoke about the Spyder tailpieces
and I also think, that these are too long for
the Dragon. But John had on his original Spyders shorter ones, which are approx. half the length of the long ones on the Spyders.
Think about this, if you want I can email you some pics. I think that these shorter single tails would look great on your dragon.
 
Oliver

[David Houck]

Ok, since you asked .  Of course this is a matter of individual taste and each person's view is as valid as another's; and it is yours that is the deciding factor.  I agree with Roger on the symetry of the tailpiece with the bridge and pickups.  And I agree with Mica that the proposed Dragon shape would not work if it is symetrical with the bridge; and I think the reason is its size and proximity to the curved edge of the body.  Because of its size and winged shape, it is necessarily closer to the edge and the relationship between its contour and the contour of the body becomes more apparent.  At first I agreed with Roger's observation that the bird tailpiece looked lost on the bass, dwarfed.  However, now I'm thinking that if the bridge and pickups were in place in the picture, the bird would not seem dwarfed at all but would appear right at home next to the bridge.  I'm also wondering if perhaps the bar tailpiece might be a good choice for this application since it would nail down the symetry with the bridge and be substantial enough not to be dwarfed.
 
Dave

[rogertvr]

Yes please to the pics Oliver, if you could.
 
To everyone else - my brain is now working overtime, please keep the views and observations coming!
 
Rog

[senmen]

Rog,  here they come:  

 

   As shown the tails on Johns basses (except the V-head and the V-bass) are significantly shorter than on the Spyders).  What do you think\?  Oliver  

[adriaan]

This one goes way over the top, but there's no harm in fantasizing -
 
Think of a dragon's claw clasping the bottom end of the neck-through. Now morph that claw to the hand in the Alembic logo. See if you can fit in more of the logo, perhaps as an appendix. Or have it melt like Dali's watches.
 
Now back to work.

[rogertvr]

One of what Adriaan's been smoking please  ;-)
 
Thanks for the pictures Oliver. I like the short tailpiece in the left hand picture.  Perhaps Mica could tell us all if there is room for that on the Dragon's Wing?

[senmen]

Hi Rog,
you?re welcome. I also like this.
I think it would look great.
Maybe Mica can tell if this would work; I don?t
know why they changed the design from short to long back then.  
Maybe they could do different ones following the curve? Two longer in the outer position and two shorter in the inner position?
Man this is really making sense.
I feel like it would be my own bass project....
 
Oliver

[senmen]

Sorry, double posted.
 
Oliver
 
(Message edited by senmen on October 29, 2003)

[adriaan]

Well, I live in the right country for what you suppose I'm smoking. But I don't smoke. Anything. At all. Convinced? No, you're not. But I don't. - Well, I hope that has cleared the air (waves his arms like a madman, grins like a bassplayer).
 
It's just that no one seems to have thought much about a fitting tailpiece for the Dragon Wing before the instrument was nearly complete!

[rogertvr]

I like Olivers idea of two different lengths.  Of course, the technicalities of this idea lie with Mica.
 
Adriaan - I believe you!  You also seem to have a point about the tailpiece - I was set on a bird tailpiece until I saw it on the picture Mica posted, and now it doesn't look right...obviously someone at Alembic has been thinking about this too to have decided to create an MDF mock-up tailpiece.
 
This is all very interesting!!